Alex Heizer

There are a few necessary tools any artist will have in their studio — pencils, erasers, paper and rulers. One of the more useful but lesser-known tools is the French curve.

Like a ruler, the French curve allows you to create good, solid, consistent lines, but unlike a ruler the French curve allows those lines to be — you guessed it — curved! French curves come in all sizes and curve shapes to allow you to draft any curve or, by combining multiple French curves, compound curves. There’s even a flexible French curve which lets you make your own curves as you need them!

One of the things Manga Studio excels at is lines. Not only can you ink with a simulated brush, pen, marker or pencil, you can easily make straight or curved lines, and even polygons and ellipses. But it also has rulers which not only can be used as guides for making straight lines when using a brush or pen tool just like using a real ruler and pen, but also curved rulers that are awesomely customizable French curves! Here’s how to quickly create and use them. For this example I’ll use the standard Ruler Layer, but this also works for Sub-Rulers. Check the Users Guide for more info on the differences between the Ruler layer types and when to choose between them.

1. Create a Ruler Layer, if you don’t already have one, and select it.

2. Choose the Curved Line tool.

3. Draw a curved line as you normally would. Once you’re done this will automatically become a curved ruler.

4. From the [View] menu, select “Snap”. Then, from the [View][Set Snap Point] menu, select “Ruler”. Now if you select a drawing layer and drawing tool, like a brush, your lines will snap to the ruler and create smooth curves, even with varying line widths.
 

5. Now here’s where the real fun begins! Select the Ruler Selection tool and open the tool’s Options panel. Click the [Add Vertex to Clicked Side] checkbox, then click on your ruler. This adds a new vertex that will allow you to turn your curve into a compound curve.

6. Now you can grab each vertex while you use the Ruler Selection tool and manipulate the curve into any shape you like, rubberband-style.
 

Using Manga Studio’s curved rulers, you can create really intricate, but really solid linework while keeping the expressiveness of a brush or pen!